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Directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa Cast : Crispulo Cabezas, Timy, Eloi Yebra, Marieta Orozco, Alicia Sanchez, Enrique Villen, Francisco Algora, Chete Lera. 1998 |
Javi always knows what he is doing.
Manu has a great heart.
Rai lives guided by his instinct.
This is the story of Javi, Manu and Rai's neighbourhood. They are three boys who live in the south of Madrid, where there is not enough money, the possibilities are limited and life is hard. Javi, Manu and Rai live a difficult age, an age of discovery. This summer they want to enjoy their first sexual experience, their first job or a trip to the beach, which they have only ever seen on tv. Their greatest adventures are getting in trouble with the police and Javi's greatest passion (which he would never admit) is a girl, Rai's sister, with whom he never has a proper conversation.
The boys enjoy their games and pass the time of this long, boring and hot summer hanging out in their neighbourhood and having endless talks about life but they know that they have reached a time to make decisions, prove their loyalty to each other and even lie to relieve their troubled lives. This summer will change their lives. Nothing will ever be the same, except for their neighbourhood.
Barrio is not just the portrait of a summer of three youngsters in one of Madrid's low class communities. It is not just a chronicle of the daily life of a neighbourhood during the long summer days where the three boys exchange their usual trips to school and winter routines for a different routine of hanging out in the neighbourhood and dream of escaping. It is much more than that. Barrio tells us the past, present and the probable future of these three young men.
The film was shot in 12 weeks in the autumn-winter of 1997. A total of 68 locations were necessary to depict the film's neighbourhood. Many of Madrid's outskirts were shot to get the right feel of the boys' community. Barrio's neighbourhood could be any community, with similar social troubles, in a different city or a totally different country.
Fernando Leon de Aranoa
Fernando talks through the script with the boys.
Fernando Leon gives the actors directions in a subway tunnel.
Fernando Leon de Aranoa started writing the story while editing his first film as director, Familia (Family). He conceived Barrio as a realist story with touches of irony and humour and dialogues as honest as the three characters of the story. When the script was written the three protagonists, their looks and the right voices had to be found. Leon started casting more than 1000 kids, many of whom were found in schools of the outskirts of Madrid. Fresh faces and spontaneity were needed but at the same time acting skills were sought after to represent the long way that each character -each of them in their own way- goes through in a short summer.
When Fernando Leon was shooting Barrio he declared that if he had to describe the three protagonists he would say: "Javi is the head, Manu is the chest and Rai, I don't know whether I should say this, is the balls". These descriptions confirm the conversations that the three boys have in their walks around the neighbourhood. A neighbourhood where they know their limits and where they feel trapped. Their limits can move forward a few meters but the meaning of their territory will continue to limit them and prevent them from reaching the sky. These 15 year olds are at the same time too young to fill their heads with constant queries and desires and adult enough to conceive that their furthest escape lies right in front of them.
Barrio comes to our screens with a collection of awards from the San Sebastian Film Festival and the 1998 Goya Film Awards. The jury of the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival awarded Fernando de Aranoa the Silver Shell to the best Director. This decision gave rise to controversy amongst the film critics and the media, who considered that this film of the director from Madrid, of 30 years of age and with a degree in Film Studies from the Complutense university of Madrid deserved the Golden Shell. However, it is understood that the jury did not want to give too much credit to Aranoa since he had already won great attention and prizes the previous year with his first film Familia (Family).
Javi gets in trouble with the Police.
Rai, Javi and Manu hang out in their neighbourhood.
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Genre: Length: 94 minutes Format: 1,85:1 Rated: 13 Awards: 3 Goya Awards:
San Sebastian Festival:
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Special Features:
Language: Spanish Subtitles:
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Drama